Two top education dept officials among six held in Karnataka teachers’ recruitment scam
The criminal investigation department (CID) investigating the Karnataka teachers’ recruitment scam arrested six people, including two senior officials of the Department of School Education and Literacy on Monday, officials said.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Karnataka Textbook Society director M P Madegowda, Samagra Shikshana Abhiyana director S Geeta, three retired joint directors D K Shivakumar, K Ratnaiah and G R Basavaraj, and computer programmer Narasimharao.
Earlier, the CID had arrested 13 people in connection with the case over alleged irregularities in the recruitment process that took place in 2014-15. Three FIRs were filed at the Vidhana Soudha police station recently, which were then handed over to the CID for investigation.
The arrests, according to sources, were based on the statements of teachers and K M Prasad, who was a first division assistant in the department. They had contended that senior officials had handed over appointment orders in a hurry without verifying the veracity of the documents submitted by the candidates.
Sources alleged the recruitment orders were issued for a payment of Rs 5 to 10 lakh, even though the names of most of the candidates appointed thus were on the additional list. The irregularities allegedly took place in an organised manner and more details are expected to emerge as the investigation progresses.
More officials in the department are likely to be served notices in connection with the scam, according to CID sources. The scam, which occurred during the Congress rule in Karnataka, is politically significant as the ruling BJP has used the investigation to counter the corruption allegations levelled against itself by the Opposition Congress.
